This invention relates to an evaporator of ice machine, and particularly to an evaporator which remarkably simplifies the assembly and reduces the installing space of the ice machine body by giving a slope to its plate member.
Generally, an ice machine makes ice by spraying water thru a nozzle onto a cooled evaporator plate surface. The water is stored in a water tank. The evaporator plate is cooled by a refrigerant. The refrigerant leaves a compressor at high temperature and pressure. The refrigerant then enters a condenser where it is cooled. The refrigerant is then brought into heat transfer contact with the evaporator plate surface. The refrigerant is evaporated to thereby cool the plate surface. When the ice becomes thicker than a predetermined thickness, the high temperature and high pressure gas discharged from the compressor is sent to the evaporator through a two way valve. The high temperature and high pressure gas warms the plate surface and thus separates the ice. This is a typical ice-making cycle.
In constructing a conventional evaporator body 2 of ice machine 1 having the typical ice-making cycle, the evaporator body 2 and a lattice-type heater 14 is continuously formed with " "-shape as shown in FIG. 4. The installing space of the evaporator inside of a cabinet can be increased against the ice-making capacity.
As shown in FIG. 5, the evaporator 2 can be vertically positioned. In this configuration, water is sprayed to both sides of the plate member 3. A fixing part 19 is annexed at the upper side of plate member 3. An ice-guiding part 20 is also provided for guiding the ice to the storage position or to heater 14. The ice is not guided to a water tank which is installed in the lower side of plate member 3. This configuration makes the structure more complex and deteriorates productivity.